Kelly Slater, quarterfinal ‘oop at the Hurley Pro, Lowers, CA

Three airs were landed on this wave, by two different men. Kelly Slater, eventual winner of the Hurley Pro, Lower Trestles, took off with moments remaining in his quarterfinal against Josh Kerr. He’d already won the heat with a 9.43 and a 7.87, so this was kinda a victory lap. He boosted a little frontside no-grab transition air, then raced down the line to huck this full-rote alleyoop. Then, as y’can see in the last few frames, Josh (who knew he’d lost) dropped in on Kelly, raced down the line and blasted a frontside air close to the end section. All seemed innocent, Kelly was smiling and unfazed, but Josh didn’t look at Kelly and went straight up to the tower. When the scores for this final wave dropped, it clocked in at an 8.17 for Kelly, making it his second scoring wave and upping his combined two-wave total.

After meeting Kelly four times in the last two events (and losing three of those battles*), perhaps the drop-in was a harmless way for Josh to air his frustrations against the near-unbeatable man.

*The one match-up Josh did win against Kelly was unfortunately a no-losers round, without consequence.